Sign in with Facebook
Harald Hardrada: The Last Viking (Chronicles of the Scraeling #1)
by
Michael Burr
In the dead of night, a band of Vikings ravage a lonely convent on the Brittany coast –and their fearsome leader makes a decision that will eventually lead to his downfall.
Ranulf de Lannion is fifteen years old. Crippled, deformed and abandoned by his family to the charity of the convent, he is seized by the Vikings during a midnight raid. Contemptuously nicknamed 'The Scr...more
Ranulf de Lannion is fifteen years old. Crippled, deformed and abandoned by his family to the charity of the convent, he is seized by the Vikings during a midnight raid. Contemptuously nicknamed 'The Scr...more
Kindle Edition
Published
(first published May 9th 2011)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
204)
Harold Hardrada: The Last Viking by Michael Burr (New Zealand) is a very exciting debut historical novel. Set in the second half of the 11th century, it opens with a vividly described Viking raid on a convent on the coast of England, in the Brittany region The violence and the terror of this event is brought totally to life by Burr. The scenes of the rapes of the nuns are very powerful and are not for those who want to hide from the horror of history. An attack on a convent is great fun for the...more
I started reading through Harald Hardrada and I found myself taking ages just getting through the first few pages. I think by about page 50 I was really struggling with the book because I thought it was a bit boring. However, it reached a point a little after that where things started to get really interesting.
I have to say that before I read this book I didn't know anything about Harald Hardrada so it was definitely a learning experience for me.
I thought the story line was really interesting. I...more
I have to say that before I read this book I didn't know anything about Harald Hardrada so it was definitely a learning experience for me.
I thought the story line was really interesting. I...more
May 04, 2012
Robin Carter
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-fiction
There are a few authors writing in this time period and the quality and style varies significantly. So where does Michael Burr sit?
To be honest i have not 100% made up my mind, there are times when the book flows really well, and then it thumps up against a clunky great scene change, i think due to trying to cover too much in one book. This book had a trilogy in it easily, there was an entire volume just on the time with Yaroslav the wise.
I was also not 100% sold on the wise scraeling, he was a...more
To be honest i have not 100% made up my mind, there are times when the book flows really well, and then it thumps up against a clunky great scene change, i think due to trying to cover too much in one book. This book had a trilogy in it easily, there was an entire volume just on the time with Yaroslav the wise.
I was also not 100% sold on the wise scraeling, he was a...more
Being English, I’ve always been fascinated by the events of 1066 and all that. But I often wondered—why on earth were Vikings invading just before the Norman Conquest? Who is Harold and who is Harald? And didn’t the Vikings belong to an earlier era in history anyway?
Michael Burr’s historical novel, Harald Hardrada: The Last Viking, answer these questions and more, drawing the leader into pre-1066 Europe with absorbing characters and exciting action. Cultures clash. Emperors and empresses seek to...more
Michael Burr’s historical novel, Harald Hardrada: The Last Viking, answer these questions and more, drawing the leader into pre-1066 Europe with absorbing characters and exciting action. Cultures clash. Emperors and empresses seek to...more
Thank you to Knox Publishing for allowing me to read Harald Hardrada in exchange for an honest review.
Somewhere along the way in my history education, I managed to miss learning about Harald Hardrada, or it's possible I've totally forgotten about him. This novel served to teach me everything I ever want to know about the man, the legend, the Viking.
This is not a history book, it's a fictionalized account of Hardrada's life with interspersed commentary by Ranulf (the Scraeling) who was supposedly...more
Somewhere along the way in my history education, I managed to miss learning about Harald Hardrada, or it's possible I've totally forgotten about him. This novel served to teach me everything I ever want to know about the man, the legend, the Viking.
This is not a history book, it's a fictionalized account of Hardrada's life with interspersed commentary by Ranulf (the Scraeling) who was supposedly...more
This was one heck of a tale about one hell of a man. Harald Sigurdsson was a brute of a Viking who goes after what he wants with little care for what he ravages along the way. He lived hard and he expected his followers to jump at his command. His story is told in this tale through a man he kidnapped from a nunnery. A crippled son of a local English lord who is cunning and educated and who makes himself useful to Harald but only to find a way to bring him down. He becomes the Scraeling.
This book...more
This book...more
Dec 01, 2011
Matthew
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
history-or-social-studies,
medieval
Michael Burr’s Harald Hardrada: The Last Viking is an interesting historical novel. It is not a fictionalized biography of Harald Sigurdsson later known as Hardrada. Instead Hardrada is presented to the reader through the eyes of others; he is primarily seen from the eyes of “The Scraeling” a young man who Hardrada spares after a particularly savage raid on a settlement in what is now France. Burr’s use of the subject being viewed from the outside works well. Having Hardrada presented as seen by...more
I have often wondered why out of all the viking historical fiction books I've read (Stand alone and series) why the reader only ever has a brief encounter with the charismatic and heroic figure of Harald Hardrada, the Thunderbolt of the North, Emperesse's elite Vanguard and King of Norway. Which is why I'm ecstatic at discovering this fantastic gripping tale by Michael Burr. Not only is the story telling brilliant, the depth of the characters fantastic and the plot twists and turns thrilling BUT...more
Original review posted here
Between Linguistics and early British Literature this past semester, I got a crash course in the beginnings of the English language. I watched YouTube movies, listened to lectures, experienced Old English (and read some of it out loud!), and got to read (for the first time) Beowulf and discuss it. So some of what I was reading and expecting to read in Harald Hadrada did not come as a surprise.
What did come as a surprise was just how violently I reacted to the initial p...more
Between Linguistics and early British Literature this past semester, I got a crash course in the beginnings of the English language. I watched YouTube movies, listened to lectures, experienced Old English (and read some of it out loud!), and got to read (for the first time) Beowulf and discuss it. So some of what I was reading and expecting to read in Harald Hadrada did not come as a surprise.
What did come as a surprise was just how violently I reacted to the initial p...more
Dec 26, 2011
Sarah
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
for-review,
historical-fiction
I found the historical aspect of this book quite fascinating, as I know little of the Viking period. I'd heard of their reputations of ruthlessness and skilled warriors, and this certainly did not lack any of those episodes. The story is told through the eyes of The Scraeling. His voice is the first we hear, and his declaration in the prologue that really hooked me into the story. The reader is quickly inserted into the account of how The Scraeling came to be serving Harald Hardrada, in the acco...more
While the book was slow to start, I found it interesting and enjoyed reading about a time not usually discussed in books outside of textbooks. After I got through the prologue, which was slow and clunky, I found that the book flew and found myself lost in the story and characters. I noticed a few minor editing errors, which annoyed me, but, other than that, I really enjoyed this book!
Disappointing but I would give the author the benefit of the doubt and look at his next book
view 2 comments
Mar 09, 2013
Robin
marked it as got-my-eye-on
Jan 01, 2013
Shannon
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
dark-ages,
books-to-read-soon
Dec 21, 2012
Shirley
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Michael Burr was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, many years ago and went to New Zealand at the age of 18 where he trained as a teacher and indulged to the full his passion for playing rugby football. Master's degrees in History and Education have informed his teaching at every level of the NZ education system from primary to university, and in every type of educational institution.
Historical fiction i...more
More about Michael Burr...
Historical fiction i...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
